A Fear Worse Than Ghosts

"So the reason you've been so quiet since yesterday is the courage test?"

"……"

Seo Jio avoided my eyes without a word, which was an answer in itself.

Unbelievable.

It was so far from anything I'd expected that I didn't know whether to laugh. Could his image and this fear possibly clash any harder?

"If you're scared, then tell them you're sitting out. Why didn't you say something to the teacher?"

For all it was called a courage test, it was nothing more than a walk around the trail behind the school. It might sound ridiculous to some, but for certain kids it could be an hour of unbearable terror — which is exactly why anyone who spoke up in advance could be excused.

"You can still say something now."

"……"

"Want me to tell them for you?"

"No! Absolutely not. Don't you dare."

Seo Jio, silent the entire time, snapped his head up at that.

"I'm fine. I'm just… fine. Let's the two of us hurry and get it over with. That's all."

The words spilled out of him fast, like he was reciting an incantation.

When did the two of us agree to go together?

I found it strange, but looking at those eyes swimming with fear, arguing didn't seem worth it. So I went along without much thought.

An hour later, I was regretting that choice with every fiber of my being.

Rustle.

"Gah! What was that? What was that just now?"

"……The sound of you stepping on dead leaves."

"Oh."

Seo Jio looked down at his own feet and let out a sigh of relief. Then he raked his hands through his hair and complained, with complete sincerity, "When does this thing end? Haven't we been walking for an hour?"

"It hasn't even been ten minutes."

"No way. Did we take a wrong turn?"

"All you have to do is go straight — how would we take a wrong turn? Get a grip, please."

A surge of frustration bubbled up inside me. He's exhausting.

Every time Seo Jio heard the slightest sound, he would scream and throw himself at me. Because he never stopped to consider how big he actually was, I was the one getting crushed. Being pinned under him for ten straight minutes meant the courage test — or whatever it was — had done nothing but drain my stamina.

"Gah, what was that noise!"

"Calm down."

"What if it's a ghost? I can't calm down."

Seo Jio clung to my back, trembling like a leaf. A sigh escaped me before I could stop it.

"What kind of sound does a ghost make?"

"Then what's that sound?"

"It's a mountain. Probably ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a wild boar or something."

"A boar? Phew, well, that's a relief."

I stared at him, dumbfounded. Common sense says a wild boar is the bigger problem here, doesn't it?

I shook my head and just wished for the whole ordeal to end. Unfortunately, Seo Jio only spiraled further from there.

"Yeonjae, I think someone's behind us."

"There's no one there."

"There is! I'm serious. I heard something."

His voice was on the verge of tears. I swallowed a curse and turned around. Pointing my all-but-useless flashlight behind us revealed nothing but a cold, empty dirt path.

"There. Look. Nobody, right?"

"……"

I'd shown him to put him at ease, but Seo Jio only latched onto me with an even more terrified face.

"Let's hurry…."

"Fine. If ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you're that scared, want to play a game while we walk?"

"A game? What game?"

"From now on, every time you open your mouth, you get hit. Ready? Go."

"……"

That kept Seo Jio quiet as we walked the trail. A few more minutes in, a table appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the path. On it sat the pile of key rings the teachers had told us about.

"I guess we just grab one of those. Wait here — I'll get it."

"No! We go together!"

Seo Jio locked his arm through mine. My skin crawled so badly I nearly threw the arm off.

Endure it. Never again will I do a courage test with Seo Jio.

I was thinking exactly that as I approached the table —

"KYAAAAH!"

Someone in white burst out from beside a tree, screaming.

I looked at the person for a moment, then gave a polite bow at the waist. "Hello, sir."

"……Oh, it's you, Yeonjae."

"Yes, sir. We just take one of these, right?"

"Yes…."

The homeroom teacher, dressed in the white ghost costume, nodded with an awkward face.

Sorry about that.

But the ghost makeup was so half-hearted that even pretending to be startled would have been difficult. And Seo Jio hadn't made a single sound, either — need I say more.

"Hang in there, sir. We'll head on ahead."

"You two take care…."

After greeting the teacher, we turned back the way we'd come. I'm going to pass out the second I get to the room. Thanks to Seo Jio, the difficulty felt like it had doubled. As we walked the forest path in silence, the only sound was the jingle of keys in my hand.

……Hold on. Why is he so quiet?

The stray thought made me glance sideways — and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Yah. Seo Jio."

Seo Jio was so pale his face had gone blue, and he was holding his breath. The bloodless, truly ghost-like appearance scared me more than the teacher had.

"If something scares you, at least say so."

"A gh-ghost…."

"That wasn't a ghost, it was a teacher."

So he hadn't screamed out of bravery — he'd been too terrified to make a sound. I sat the vacant-eyed Seo Jio down at the side of the path.

His eyes are completely fried. What do I do with him?

Should've brought lemon candy. I sighed for a moment, then patted his back.

"Jio, snap out of it. There's no such thing as ghosts."

"Really? You're sure?"

Sure… isn't exactly a word I can use.

Angae is supposedly a youkai, after all. And wasn't a youkai a kind of ghost itself? When I hedged, the kid spiraled even further.

Damn it.

No amount of gentle coaxing brought the focus back to his eyes. I swallowed a sigh. This was the limit.

I grabbed Seo Jio by the chin and yanked his face up.

"Ugh."

Maybe I was too irritated to modulate my strength, because he winced.

"Hey. Did you forget what I told you before?"

"What?"

"I said I'm the one who's supposed to be scared. Don't waste energy on things that don't matter. Why won't you ever listen to people?"

What kind of meltdown was this, at this hour of the night? My irritation sharpened my voice without my meaning to.

"When we get back to Seoul, I'll stuff you full of candy. All you can eat."

"……I'm sorry."

Yeah. A little late for that.

"Now get up."

"Yeonjae, I'm sorry. The candy—"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll order plenty. Don't worry about it."

I cut him off and hauled him to his feet. But his legs gave out, and Seo Jio staggered.

Unbelievable. Really.

"Carry me?"

Seo Jio was taller than me, sure, but not so much that I couldn't have lifted him. And yet, at the lemon-candy attack, the focus that had been drifting from Seo Jio's eyes snapped back in an instant.

"What? No. Absolutely not."

"……"

Did he think I asked because I wanted to?

"Then walk properly."

"Okay. Walking. Don't even think about carrying me. Got it?"

"I get it, so shut up."

Apparently being carried by me was worse than facing ghosts, because Seo Jio walked in sullen silence. Before long, we saw bright lights ahead.

"What took you two so long?"

The moment one of our classmates laughed and teased us, Seo Jio grabbed my collar hard. It seemed to be a wordless plea, so I just claimed we'd gotten lost.

After all the activities wrapped up and we were settling in for the night, Seo Jio came over and whispered, "Yeonjae. I'm really sorry about earlier."

"Yeah. You had reason to be."

At my words, Seo Jio rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Then, watching my expression, he mumbled, "Can we… not talk about what just happened?"

"To the class?"

"To everyone. Not even in interviews."

There was something desperate in his voice. I swallowed a sigh and asked why he'd go that far, and he hesitated.

"If it gets out on the internet… my mom might see it."

"……"

"I only ever want to show her the coolest version of me."

His apology for asking me something so unreasonable was thick with embarrassment.

"All right. I won't say anything, so stop worrying about it."

"Thank you."

Only then did Seo Jio spread out his blanket, looking relieved at last. Watching him, I shook my head.

A real kid, through and through.

What could I possibly hold against a kid? I'd just have to put up with it. Think of it as spiritual training.

Maybe because I went to sleep with that mindset, Seo Jio looked even more like a pitiful child the next morning. Freed from the courage test, he was back to his usual self, and chatting away with him — now a bit more talkative than before — the school trip came to an end before I knew it.